Guild Wars 2

Hello, sorry for the wall of text. TLDR in the end.

I bought the game about 2-3 days ago and I’m having a hard time deciding on what profession to pick, but mostly because I don’t know how guild wars 2 endgame is like.

So my preference in playstyle is usually a support role, but since I’m always a support, I’m trying to choose a profession that will give me several options. I’m also focusing more on PvP, and probably won’t get too much into PvE.

I hear guardian is the “best” support prof, but outside of that, I’m left with a melee dps and I don’t like those very much.

My other choices are mesmer, elementalist and engineer.

Looking at mesmer, the core idea seems like fun, blinking around and avoiding combat when I want, but not sure how useful it is when say I wanna defend something big on WvW, or I wanna just support other people. Also, the damage skills seem to be limited to just 1h + focus melee. Is mesmer just really good at roaming in WvW and nothing else? Can I support well without any heals? Are support specs appreciated or just frowned upon

Engineer seems like fun, but from what I read while searching the forums(few months old) is that it’s just not as an effective as other classes at supporting (which I could be wrong) and the damage it puts out is not very high. Can engineers do funky builds like kite builds or condition ones? With all the gadgets and whatnot. I can get permanent swiftness, is that a viable strategy for roaming, or is roaming done by other profs.

Elementalist also appears to be fun with all the spells, but I get the feeling bcuz it has so many spells that each one of them is not very effective and I’ll only excel at AoE’ing and combo fields in big battles

As a final thought, what about necros, can do any form of support, and how useful are they in PvP?

TLDR: What profession to pick, I like supporting, PvP, but wanna also be able to do other things like roaming in WvW or defend bases, or do dmg with condition builds. Any thoughts about a specific profession is useful, no need to comment on them all.

mesmers bring the most utility to WvW out of any of the classes. portals alone are extremely useful. you can set up portal bombs, or hide in a keep/tower and portal your group in to quickly reclaim it. a few mesmers can set up portal chains to move an entire group from one side of the map to the other almost instantly. on defense, you can portal in reinforcements, or set up fast supply runs. then there’s veil to use in a zerg, and timewarp for golem rushes.

granted, mesmers don’t have access to much AoE, so they can’t really bring much damage in a zerg fight, but they more than make up for it with those crucial utilities. if a group doesn’t have a mesmer, they need a mesmer. if they have a mesmer already, they’ll want another mesmer too.

or, to put it another way, “we have too many mesmers” said no one in WvW ever.

It really depends on what flavor of support you want.

Necromancers excel at dishing out conditions (especially bleeding, poison, cripple, chill, blind, and vulnerability), spreading conditions, removing conditions from allies and transferring them to foes, and Fear. They have healing and boons to support allies with, but not in large supply.

Guardians are very versatile support. While yes, they will almost always be dishing out damage in the front lines, they also bring in boon support, potent healing, and projectile reflection – wall of reflection is arguably the most powerful skill in PvE. You’ll always be able to get a dungeon group.

Elementalists are a versatile class with a high skill cap. They bring in huge boon support – frequent access to almost every boon, while also providing fire, water, ice, and lightning combo fields (as a staff ele). Regardless of weapon choice, you’ll have group healing ranging from reasonable to great. You also have access to auras, which have a variety of powerful effects and can be shared once you put 30 into Water for the Grandmaster trait.

Mesmers are mostly self-centered. They don’t have a ton of support options, but what they do have is very potent. Area quickness (Time Warp), area boons and conditions via staff, projectile reflecting bubble, portals, area condition removal – and all of these count as ethereal combo fields (which are possibly the best in the game). Also, you can trait your illusions to provide boons to allies (specifically regen and vigor). With the Mesmer, you just have to bear with the dreadfully bad early levels (approx. 1-30 or 1-40) until your traits give you a huge power boost and allow you to become one of the best professions in the game. Sword/Focus with a Staff as your secondary is pretty much the staple build of a Mesmer for all intents and purposes.

Rangers have reasonable support options through Healing Spring – the best PvE healing skill in the game – Warhorn boons, combo fields from traps, excellent crowd control from pets and weapons, and a variety of conditions. Similar to Necro, and I’d generally recommend the Necro instead.

Engineer support is primarily through crowd control – which tends to be under-appreciated in PvE because of the Defiant buff on bosses. They have some area healing and combo fields and blast finishers, but yeah, pretty much just crowd control and damage.

Warrior support is dull in that it is fire-and-forget. You’ve got shouts which give potent healing, condition removal, and boons, and you’ve got banners that you can drop down and (hopefully) remember to pick up and use their boon-granting skills. They just aren’t meant to be a support profession so much as a numbers-based tanky dps.

Thief support is rare, but can be potent. Venom-sharing is effectively an offensive + lifesteal oriented support option. You also have plenty of aoe stealths and blinds, as well as a very spammable blast finisher on the shortbow.

As for your question on roaming, it tends to be done by Thieves, Rangers, and Elementalists, and Mesmers but can be done by anyone. Mesmers have the lowest out-of-combat mobility in the game, but they usually take Runes of the Centaur to alleviate that.

Phantom.8130:

mesmers bring the most utility to WvW out of any of the classes. portals alone are extremely useful. you can set up portal bombs, or hide in a keep/tower and portal your group in to quickly reclaim it. a few mesmers can set up portal chains to move an entire group from one side of the map to the other almost instantly. on defense, you can portal in reinforcements, or set up fast supply runs. then there’s veil to use in a zerg, and timewarp for golem rushes.

granted, mesmers don’t have access to much AoE, so they can’t really bring much damage in a zerg fight, but they more than make up for it with those crucial utilities. if a group doesn’t have a mesmer, they need a mesmer. if they have a mesmer already, they’ll want another mesmer too.

or, to put it another way, “we have too many mesmers” said no one in WvW ever.

agree with recommending mesmer, it’s the most complete and capable class i’ve played.

you’re wrong about lack of AOE though, at least in WVW: even after the nerf, glamours are still v powerful.

I can’t for the life of me decide still, there isn’t a class that I look at and say “Ok i like this class and it has everything I need/want”, feels like there’s always something missing..gonna have to pick something and accept the fact it won’t have everything I want

Eremoo.2785:

I can’t for the life of me decide still, there isn’t a class that I look at and say “Ok i like this class and it has everything I need/want”, feels like there’s always something missing..gonna have to pick something and accept the fact it won’t have everything I want

I recommend having a Necro, Guardian, Elementalist, and Mesmer. They will fill virtually all of your needs for all game types and each of them has a fun, unique feel with a completely different support offering than the others. With 5 starting slots, that opens up your 5th slot for anything you want, and you can always trade gold for gems to have all of the professions without spending an extra cent.

Edit:

You should probably start with a Mesmer though. It will get you into pretty much any PvE group, as well as being powerful in sPvP/tPvP and in-demand in WvW.

Ye i might just have to end up lvling more chars so i can switch roles around, thanks. For now I still havnt decided on what’s first xD

Engineer has the advantage of literally being able to fill any role. By changing your spec and gear, you can do:
~Long-range AoE crit damage
~Long-range AoE condition damage
~Short-range AoE crit damage
~Medium range hyperAoE condition damage
~Medium range AoE crit damage
~Melee PBAoE bruiser (Part tank, part damage)
~Pure control
~Pure support
~Pure tank
~Support/tank
~Control/tank

I have one of every profession. in order: Thief, Guardian, Warrior, Necrocutie, Elehottie, Ranger, Engineer, Mez. I had made a mez before the necro, but hated it. Think it was in part a lot to keep track of, and I really, REALLY hated the human noble story and that putz that was her childhood friend. Did not take to him at all. Kinda poisoned it for me. She got deleted and Necrocutie replaced her. But mostly, think it was the wrong magic class for me to do first. Liking it just fine now with my little norn beauty. Yes, little. Short as the slider gets, barely taller then a human ;]

Just roll what rocks ya. If it dun float your boat, roll another. Or flip coins till you come up with one. :}

Sylentir.8913:

Engineer has the advantage of literally being able to fill any role. By changing your spec and gear, you can do:
~Long-range AoE crit damage
~Long-range AoE condition damage
~Short-range AoE crit damage
~Medium range hyperAoE condition damage
~Medium range AoE crit damage
~Melee PBAoE bruiser (Part tank, part damage)
~Pure control
~Pure support
~Pure tank
~Support/tank
~Control/tank

That’s not a unique advantage. Nearly every (if not every) profession is capable of doing this (even Thief). It’s an integral part of the game’s design and one of the main reasons why Guild Wars 2 is an amazing innovation on the genre.

You could be a pure support engineer, using an elixir gun.. pretty boring though if you ask me

Whenever someone says they don’t know what they want to play, I tell them to be an Engineer.

You have, what…5 slots to start with. Pick 2 or 3 to try, and play each one up to like level 10, just to get an idea/feel for the class. Obviously there will be a lot not covered, but you can get the general sense of the class, determine if you like its mechanics, if it suits your play style etc.

My recommendations would be Ele, Mes, Theif, or Necro, but those are just the classes I’m invested in playing atm and as such I’m comfy with. Since you like PvP and WvW…yeah I think all still apply, although thief not so much support as sneak in and aggravate….

I think mesmer is what you are looking for.

Mesmer is very wanted in dungeon groups because they can do huge damage and very good support. I know you said you don’t want to PvE much, but in WvW mesmers are extremely helpfull and same goes with sPvP. A good mesmer is hard to kill, yet good support.

I would choose Elementalist. With staff you have ample support along with huge aoe damage.

Duke Blackrose.4981:

Sylentir.8913:

Engineer has the advantage of literally being able to fill any role. By changing your spec and gear, you can do:
~Long-range AoE crit damage
~Long-range AoE condition damage
~Short-range AoE crit damage
~Medium range hyperAoE condition damage
~Medium range AoE crit damage
~Melee PBAoE bruiser (Part tank, part damage)
~Pure control
~Pure support
~Pure tank
~Support/tank
~Control/tank

That’s not a unique advantage. Nearly every (if not every) profession is capable of doing this (even Thief). It’s an integral part of the game’s design and one of the main reasons why Guild Wars 2 is an amazing innovation on the genre.

I’ve yet to see a tank thief, a support warrior, or a condition anything guardian. Every profession is versatile, but they do have optimal builds and ineffective builds. When I see a thief, I immediately assume that they’ll be very mobile, very squishy, and very hard-hitting in melee. When I see a warrior, I assume that they’ll want to get up in my face. When I see a mesmer, I assume that they’ll constantly use clones to confuse me. When I see a ranger, I assume that they’ll actually fight from range. When I see a guardian, I’ll assume that they’ll be a pain in the kitten to kill. While I’m not right every time, these assumptions work 90% of the time. You cannot make any assumptions for an engineer. It is impossible to tell how an engineer will play until you see them start to use abilities.

Sylentir.8913:

Duke Blackrose.4981:

Sylentir.8913:

Engineer has the advantage of literally being able to fill any role. By changing your spec and gear, you can do:
~Long-range AoE crit damage
~Long-range AoE condition damage
~Short-range AoE crit damage
~Medium range hyperAoE condition damage
~Medium range AoE crit damage
~Melee PBAoE bruiser (Part tank, part damage)
~Pure control
~Pure support
~Pure tank
~Support/tank
~Control/tank

That’s not a unique advantage. Nearly every (if not every) profession is capable of doing this (even Thief). It’s an integral part of the game’s design and one of the main reasons why Guild Wars 2 is an amazing innovation on the genre.

I’ve yet to see a tank thief, a support warrior, or a condition anything guardian. Every profession is versatile, but they do have optimal builds and ineffective builds. When I see a thief, I immediately assume that they’ll be very mobile, very squishy, and very hard-hitting in melee. When I see a warrior, I assume that they’ll want to get up in my face. When I see a mesmer, I assume that they’ll constantly use clones to confuse me. When I see a ranger, I assume that they’ll actually fight from range. When I see a guardian, I’ll assume that they’ll be a pain in the kitten to kill. While I’m not right every time, these assumptions work 90% of the time. You cannot make any assumptions for an engineer. It is impossible to tell how an engineer will play until you see them start to use abilities.

That’s a matter of mindset – what kind of player does this profession attract? Generally speaking, players who pick Thief do so because they want to be mobile and burst targets down hard out of stealth. This does not mean that this is necessarily the optimal way to play – in fact, tank/bruiser Thieves (those using stealth-based Shadow Arts traits alongside maxed out Deadly Arts or Critical Strikes) are every bit as effective thanks to fantastic healing and condition removal alongside their stealth (and they still put out great damage).

When I see an Engineer (in PvE) I generally assume they’ll be nade spamming, because that’s one of (if not the) most common builds for the class. While it can be said that Engineer is one of the more non-stereotyped classes, this is because Engineers still have the stigma of an underpowered/underappreciated class – they don’t have a “role” for groups because groups often opt for other options. This is not to say that the Engineer is not a versatile and powerful class.

Ok for now I think I’ll go with engineer, thanks for ur comments. If u have anything to add, feel free as I’ll still be checking the thread

If you’re like me it doesn’t matter. Once I got 80, I geared up in a day, and rolled an alt and got it 80 and did the same thing, and again and again.

If you know you’re going to play multiple characters eventually, start the game out right and choose an Elementalist. Everything else will feel easy after that.

Duke Blackrose.4981:

(in PvE)

I think here’s why we’re arguing. PvE promotes only damage, while WvW and PvE promote other playstyles. I’m primarily a PvP and WvW person, doing the rare fractal to slowly save up for ascended gear. You and I probably play in different areas, and I can certainly see how grenadiers are the most visible spec for you.

In PvP, bunker builds are the most common ones I see, as a good engineer can stand toe-to-toe with any guardian. PvP builds generally are counter-builds: pick some situation or enemy, and design around them. For example, quadturret builds wreck thieves extremely easily, but are wrecked as easily by guardians. Grenadiers are amazing at point-offense or point-defense siege, but a thief will blow you up before you can react.

In WvW, engineers have a wide variety of roles. Permanent swiftness lets you get anywhere easily, especially with the new rocket boots. Grenadiers are amazing at siege, flamethrowers can be particularly potent when either defending or assaulting a gate, bunker bombs are amazing at zergdives, and so on. The build, once again, is tailored to the situation.

I will concede that in PvE, the usual best build will be grenadiers. Flamethrower builds are likely a distant second, and P/P builds are probably also in there somewhere. However, that doesn’t mean that you can’t play other builds, so long as you accept that you won’t be dealing amazing damage. Support bombs/elixir gun is enjoyable, CC builds actually have enough control to cut through defiant stacks, and I’m sure there’s a use for a bunker build somewhere.